Apple iPhone 5S and 5C announced

Two days ago, Apple unveiled 2 highly anticipated iPhones at a press conference at their headquarters in California in the United States. The tech giant confirmed many of the rumours that have been surfacing on the internet over the last few months about the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5S will be available in white, black, and gold and is fitted with Apple’s brand new A7 chip and a co-operative M7 chip. The phone will have iOS 7 installed, supports OpenGL ES 3.0 and features 64 bit architecture. Users will still be able to install both 32 bit and 64 bit apps on the handset though.

The 8 megapixel iPhone 5S camera has a 5-element lens, F/2.2 aperture and a 15% larger sensor than the iPhone 5. When you launch the camera app on the phone it automatically adjusts the exposure and other settings before you take a picture. The camera also has auto-image stabilization, a continuous shooting option and a 120 frames-per-second slow-motion video recording feature.

The phone will also have full LTE support and will feature Touch ID (a fingerprint scanner that is embedded in the phone’s “Home” Button). The fingerprint scanner will have a sapphire crystal on top of it to protect it. Users will also be able to make iTunes purchases with the fingerprint scanner. Touch ID has a 500 px per inch resolution, 360 degree readability and is able to scan sub-epidermal layers. Pretty impressive if you ask me. There will be a 16 Gb, 32 Gb and 64 Gb model of the iPhone 5S.

The iPhone 5C has been earmarked by many tech analysts as the most affordable iPhone to date. The phone will be available in two sizes and in no less than 5 colours (blue, green, red, yellow or white). The front colour of the phone will be a standard black though. The phone has the same spec as the iPhone 5, but will offer better LTE support and will also feature Apple’s iOS 7 operating system. There will be 16 Gb and 32 Gb models of the iPhone 5C.

The Apple iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C will be available in the USA, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK on the 20th of September 2013. Chances are that it will be available in South Africa by December 2013 (hopefully in time for Christmas). Vodacom has already stated on Twitter that they’re looking forward to stocking both these phones soon.

So, am I going to buy one these phones? Probably not. Why? Well, Firstly: Does the “S” in iPhone 5S stand for “standard” or “same”? There’s nothing about this particular phone that’s blowing me away. Yes, it has a faster processor, yes it comes with iOS 7, yes it’s design is sleek and smooth, but it doesn’t have any “Umph!” factor. Taking photos is fast, but it’s still an 8 Megapixel camera, so nothing spectacular.

Secondly: The iPhone 5C has a better front camera, but it’s basically an iPhone 5. I think the “C” in the iPhone 5C stands for cheap. Are Apple thinking of venturing into Nokia’s domain? Are we going to be seeing people who are living in developing countries running around with cheaper iPhones? Should the Finnish mobile phone giant (which was recently bought out by Microsoft) be worried? The answer to all of these questions are: I don’t think so.

Apple has a very tiny market share when it comes to the mobile phone market. Only Apple knows why they’ve released the iPhone 5C. It might be funky, but I doubt that this give Apple more market share. I don’t see teens rushing off to the mall to get their Tweet loving paws on it, it’s still an expensive phone that most parents will not buy their kids.

What do you think of the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C? Leave a comment and let us know. We’d like to hear what you have to say. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here.

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